Newsline - October 15, 1999

A Swiss bank
official confirmed earlier press reports that his bank
provided a guarantee for three credit cards on the order of
the construction firm Mabetex for Russian President Boris
Yeltsin and his two daughters, AP reported on 14 October.
However, the official said that he does not know whether the
credit cards were ever issued. Mabetex director Bedget
Pakolli told "Moskovskii komsomolets" the previous day that
his firm is being used as a "an instrument in a political
fight." When asked why documents about the Yeltsins' credit
cards were found on his firm's premises, he said that he "has
a few theories" but does not want to accuse anyone until he
has proof. The Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera"
reported earlier that Mabetex provided kickbacks through the
credit cards. The presidential press service released a
statement on 14 October saying that the president "has never
opened any foreign bank account" and "owns no property
abroad, nor has he ever owned any." JAC

DEMONSTRATORS IN GROZNY CALL FOR PEACE TALKS...

Some 25,000
people staged a march in the Chechen capital on 14 October to
call on the leaderships of both Chechnya and Russia to begin
talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict, Interfax and
ITAR-TASS reported. They adopted an appeal to the UN, the
OSCE, and the Council of Europe to "make every effort to
prevent the approaching catastrophe," which they said could
cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. Speaking in
Moscow on 14 October, Ingushetia's President Ruslan Aushev
similarly called for uninterrupted negotiations, pointing out
that Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov "is facing the armed
opposition single-handed." Aushev said that both he and the
Ingush people oppose the restoration of the single Chechen-
Ingush administrative territorial unit that existed before
the summer of 1992. LF

...BUT IVANOV SPELLS OUT CONDITIONS

Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov said in St. Petersburg on 15 October following
talks with his German counterpart Joschka Fischer that Moscow
is still prepared for dialogue with Maskhadov even though the
latter was not elected under Russian law. But Ivanov stressed
that the Chechen leadership must first demonstrate its good
will by halting combat operations and extraditing terrorists,
ITAR-TASS reported (see also "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol.
2, No. 41, 14 October 1999). LF

MOSCOW NAMES VICEROY IN CHECHEN LIBERATED ZONE

Russian
Deputy Railways Minister Nikolai Koshman, who headed the pro-
Moscow Chechen puppet government in 1995-1996, told ITAR-TASS
on 15 October that he has accepted the post of Moscow's
representative in the "liberated" areas of Chechnya, ITAR-
TASS reported. Koshman said his priority is "to inspire faith
in people that Russia remembers them [and] to put things in
order." He said he will extend assistance to the pro-Moscow
Chechen State Council headed by Malik Saidullaev. Saidullaev,
for his part, told ITAR-TASS on 14 October he and other
council members will leave for Chechnya "soon," once they
have received from the Russian government documents
confirming the powers of the 1996 parliament. That body's
mandate expired in the summer of 1998. LF

RUSSIAN OFFICIALS BLAME CHECHEN MILITANTS FOR EXODUS

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko on 14
October accused the Chechen forces of coercing the civilian
population to leave Chechnya in order to create a
humanitarian catastrophe, ITAR-TASS reported. Federal
Security Service spokesman Aleksandr Zdanovich on 14 October
similarly said that the Chechens are forcing civilians to
leave the republic in order to depict federal actions as
"barbarous," according to Interfax . LF

RUSSIAN TROOPS CONSOLIDATE CONTROL OF GORAGORSKY

Russian
military spokesmen said on 15 October that federal forces
have consolidated their hold on the strategic village of
Goragorsky, west of Grozny, which Chechen forces abandoned
two days earlier. The village commands the main highway from
Grozny to Ingushetia. Russian artillery continued its
bombardment of Urus Martan, Achkhoi Martan, Assinovskaya, and
Bamut on 14 October but did not target the capital. AFP on 14
October quoted Chechen officials as saying that more than
2,000 civilians have been killed since the Russian bombing
raids began six weeks ago. LF

YELTSIN DISCUSSES NORTH CAUCASUS WITH MAGOMEDOV, SERGEEV

President Yeltsin on 14 October telephoned Daghestan's State
Council Chairman Magomedali Magomedov to discuss the
situation in that republic and in the North Caucasus in
general, ITAR-TASS reported. The previous day, Yeltsin had
discussed the situation in the North Caucasus with Defense
Minister Igor Sergeev. LF

WORLD BANK CHIMES IN ON DEFENSE SPENDING...

The World Bank's
Country Director for Russia Michael Carter told Ekho Moskvy
on 14 October that a very sharp increase in military
expenditure would destabilize the budget and prompt the bank
to discontinue disbursements of adjustment loans. Carter
added that the bank has found no violations in the use of
bridge loans that it has granted Russia. Meanwhile,
"Vedomosti" reported the same day that IMF officials are
unlikely to be pleased that the government is resorting to
mutual offsets in order to clear debts owed to the government
by state-controlled enterprises. The IMF demanded earlier
that the government resist writing off enterprises' tax
debts. The daily noted that "the treasury owes money to
enterprises, which, in turn, owe money to the budget--so why
not come to terms?" The daily added that because military
expenditures are increasing, it is becoming harder "to
'earmark' real money for other affairs." JAC

...AS REPORTS FILTER IN ABOUT SOLDIERS' PAY

Some analysts
believe that the costs of the Chechen conflict will not be
excessively high. Mikhail Delyagin of Moscow's Institute for
Globalization Problems told RFE/RL that "the Russian armed
forces will just do what they know how to do--scrimp and save
on the backs of Russian soldiers." Delyagin wrote earlier
that soldiers in Chechnya have not been paid for a month.
Colonel General Georgii Oleinik told "Krasnaya zvezda" on 14
October that pilots who have been flying bombing missions
over Chechnya have received their pay neither regularly nor
on time. However, Oleinik, who is head of the Defense
Ministry's military budget and finance department, pledged
that "from this month pilots will receive everything they
should get on time." JAC

GOVERNMENT LOOKING TO OIL SECTOR TO HELP WITH CHECHNYA?

Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin has called on the government to
increase its oversight of the country's oil and gas sector.
Addressing the cabinet on 14 October, he said that "it is
impossible to explain to any reasonable person why Russia, an
oil-producing country, is witnessing a 50 percent growth in
petrol prices this year," according to ITAR-TASS. Putin also
noted that fuel deliveries to security agencies have been
reduced five-fold, according to Russian Public Television.
"Under the current circumstances, our military group in the
North Caucasus has to suffer, while it is honorably
fulfilling its duty before the country," he said. "Vremya MN"
noted earlier that the government may try to raise revenues
for military spending by increasing taxes on oil exports (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 12 October 1999). JAC

VASILIEV RESIGNS FOR GOOD

Dmitrii Vasiliev, head of the
Federal Securities Agency, told reporters on 15 October that
he has tendered his resignation to the president and Yeltsin
has accepted it. Vasiliev resigned earlier this year to
protest what he saw as errors in the way the government of
former Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov government was
handling the country's economic crisis, but his resignation
was not accepted (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 October 1998).
Vasiliev said he plans to set up a non-governmental system
for protecting investors on Russia's stock exchange. He added
that the system would include legal representation and
organizational support, according to Interfax. JAC

COMMUNISTS SAIL THROUGH REGISTRATION...

The Central Election
Commission on 14 October registered the party list of the
Communist Party (KPRF) for the upcoming elections to the
State Duma. According to "Parlamentskaya gazeta" on 15
October, the list contains 255 names; the commission crossed
nine names off the list for providing false information about
their property, including that of actress Elena Dropenko.
"Kommersant-Daily" noted that some of the candidates of the
"party of the people" seemed to have cars of people with
means. For example, Nikolai Laikhes, a candidate on the
Volga-Caspian list, owns two Zhigulis, one Volga, and one
Jeep Grand Cherokee, while Yevgenii Marchenko, a candidate
from the Kuban-Don group, falsified sale documents for his
Mercedes-500. JAC

...AS YABLOKO PREDICTED TO HAVE PROBLEMS

Central Election
Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov said on 14 October
that questions have been raised about the information
provided on vehicle declaration forms by candidates on
Yabloko's list--even among the top three candidates,
according to ITAR-TASS. Our Home Is Russia leader Viktor
Chernomyrdin predicted the same day that the commission will
not delete one name from his party's list since that list had
been prepared with great care. JAC

NIZHNII NOVGOROD FAILS TO MAKE EUROBOND PAYMENT

The city of
Nizhnii Novgorod has technically defaulted on an interest
payment on its Eurobond, after failing to persuade
bondholders to approve a debt restructuring plan, Russian
media reported on 14 October. This is the first case of a
Russian municipal government's default, technical or
otherwise, on a Eurobond payment. The interest payment on
Nizhnii Novgorod's five-year, $100 million bond had been due
on 3 October, after which the city had a 10-day grace period
to make the payment (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation Report,"
6 October 1999). However, at a meeting in London on 13
October, support for the Nizhnii restructuring plan among
creditors fell just short of the required 75 percent,
according to Interfax on 14 October and "The Moscow Times"
the next day. Talks between the region's representatives and
bondholders are to continue on 21 and 22 October. JC

NEW CANDIDATES TO VIE FOR POSTS IN MOSCOW

State Duma
Chairman Gennadii Seleznev told reporters on 14 October that
he will run for the post of governor of the Moscow region
instead of seeking a seat in the Duma from a single-mandate
district in St. Petersburg. Seleznev, who is number two on
the KPRF's party list, would have had to compete in St.
Petersburg against former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin,
who is number two on Yabloko's party list. Duma Deputy and
former head of the Our Home Is Russia faction Aleksandr
Shokhin told "Kommersant-Daily" on 15 October that Seleznev
had analyzed his falling ratings and realized that he could
lose against Stepashin. The same day, former Prime Minister
Sergei Kirienko submitted the necessary documents to run for
mayor of Moscow. According to "Nezavisimaya gazeta," former
St. Petersburg Mayor Anatolii Sobchak has decided to run
again for his old post and not for a seat in the Duma. JAC

STAND-OFF ENDS AT VYBORGSKII PAPER MILL

Justice Ministry
troops left the premises of the Vyborgskii paper mill in the
late afternoon of 14 October, some 15 hours after they had
stormed the administration building and held eight members of
the factory's strike committee (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14
October). Before their release, the eight were charged with
resisting the authorities, "The St. Petersburg Times"
reported the next day. According to the newspaper, Aleksandr
Sabadash, who was appointed by the mill's British owners as
director of the factory, was beaten up by workers who had
rushed to the scene when the Justice Ministry troops entered
the mill. ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported on 14 October that
the Leningrad Oblast Prosecutor's Office has launched
criminal proceedings over the strike committee's failure to
comply with a May 1998 ruling that the mill's British owners
be allowed to assume control of their property. JC

MOSCOW, TRIPOLI SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT

Citing Libyan
state television, AFP reported that Libyan Energy Minister
Abdullah al-Badri and visiting Russian Deputy Minister Ilya
Klebanov signed an economic and trade cooperation agreement
in Tripoli on 14 October. The news agency gave no further
details of that accord. The previous day, Klebanov handed
over to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi a message from
President Yeltsin stressing Russia's desire to resume
relations with Libya and create new opportunities for
cooperation. Klebanov is in Libya until 16 October on a visit
that ITAR-TASS, citing Russian Defense Ministry sources,
reported is aimed at boosting military-industrial relations
between the two countries, particularly in aviation. JC

ARMENIAN NATIONALIST PARTY WARNS AGAINST KARABAKH
CONCESSIONS

Hrant Khachatrian, one of the leaders of the
hard-line Right and Accord parliamentary bloc, warned
Armenian President Robert Kocharian on 14 October not to
agree to any peace deal that does not provide for the
unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to become fully
independent or be unified with Armenia, RFE/RL's Yerevan
bureau reported. Khachatrian warned that if Kocharian does
agree to major concessions he may share the fate of his
predecessor, Levon Ter-Petrossian, who was forced to resign
in February 1998 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 February 1998).
Right and Accord, which has eight seats in the parliament, is
backed by former Karabakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayan. LF

MOVEMENT IN SUPPORT OF FORMER AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT GAINS
MOMENTUM

The committee to protect the rights of exiled
former President Ayaz Mutalibov has collected 150,000
signatures in support of its demands to allow him to return
to Azerbaijan, Turan reported on 14 October, citing the daily
"Yeddi gun" (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 35, 2
September 1999). Committee chairman Abdul Mahmudov said that
on average its members collect an additional 10,000
signatures a day. The present Azerbaijani authorities have
accused Mutalibov of theft of arms and ammunition,
instigating and participating in mass public disturbances,
and complicity in the alleged coup attempts against President
Aliyev in October 1994 and March 1995. LF

FOUR UN HOSTAGES RELEASED IN WESTERN GEORGIA

The
unidentified gunmen who seized six UN observers and their
interpreter in the Kodori gorge on 13 October upped their
ransom demand from $200,000 to $250,000 on 14 October and
threatened to shoot one of their captives. Later, however,
they unconditionally released four of the hostages. Georgian
parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania said on 15 October that
no ransom had been paid and that he is sure the remaining
hostages will soon be freed. He added that the gunmen are
negotiating security guarantees with the Georgian leadership,
ITAR-TASS reported. LF

KAZAKH OPPOSITION QUERIES OFFICIAL POLL RETURNS

Opposition
candidates continue to complain to the OSCE monitoring
mission of irregularities during the 10 October election to
the lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, Reuters
reported on 14 October. The agency quoted an OSCE spokesman
as saying the mission has "serious concerns" about the
validity of the results in the three districts of Almaty.
Petr Svojk, who heads Kazakhstan's opposition Azamat
(Citizen) Party, told Reuters that the preliminary results
are "a catastrophe for democracy in our country." According
to the outcome of the party list vote, Azamat failed to
overcome the 7 percent threshold to qualify for parliamentary
representation. Communist Party leader Serikbolsyn Abdildin
said the voting procedure was more democratic than during the
January presidential poll but that the voting tallies are
being revised to ensure that the leadership's "favorite"
candidates receive parliamentary mandates. LF

KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT COMPLETES CABINET RESHUFFLE

Nursultan
Nazarbaev on 14 October appointed Vladimir Shkolnik as
minister of industry, trade and energy, and Nikolai
Radostovets as minister of labor and social protection,
Interfax reported. The agriculture, justice, and interior
ministers retained their posts in the new cabinet. Nazarbaev
began a short vacation later the same day. LF

NEGOTIATOR SAYS ONE KYRGYZ HOSTAGE KILLED...

Kyrgyz
parliamentary deputy Tursunbai Bakir Uulu, who recently
secured the release of five of the 13 hostages seized by
guerrillas in southern Kyrgyzstan in late August, told
journalists in Bishkek on 14 October that the guerrillas had
killed one of the Kyrgyz hostages before 4 October, RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. He did not give the name of the
hostage allegedly killed. Bakir Uulu advocated talks between
the Uzbek government and the opposition Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan, to which the hostage-takers reportedly belong. He
also said that the Japanese government should accede to the
kidnappers' demand to send a representative to negotiate
terms for the release of the four hostage Japanese
geologists, whose lives he said are in danger. LF

...AS GUERRILLAS' LEADERS THREATEN REPRISALS

Bakir Uulu
brought a further message, dated 6 October, to the Kyrgyz
authorities from the leadership of the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan announcing its decision to release the hostages in
stages and to declare a unilateral cease-fire. The statement
threatened reprisals against Kyrgyz leaders who cooperate
with the "dictatorial regime" of Uzbek President Islam
Karimov. LF

DEMANDS ON KYRGYZSTAN'S BUDGET MULTIPLY

In his annual
address to the parliament on 14 October, Kyrgyzstan's
President Askar Akaev vowed that the government will pay all
wage and pension arrears before the end of 1999, RFE/RL's
bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. He said that the
guerrilla incursions into southern Kyrgyzstan over the past
two months and the military response to that threat have cost
a total of 200 million soms (about $5 million) and that 1.5
billion soms must be spent on national security over the next
four years. The previous day, Finance Minister Sultan Mederov
told a cabinet meeting that the draft budget for 2000 must be
amended to provide an additional 200 million soms for the
newly created Batken Oblast. He estimated wage costs for the
region's 160 administrators alone at 12 million soms. In
addition, Kyrgyzstan must repay some $80 million next year on
loans from Russia and international financial organizations.
LF

TAJIK OPPOSITION MAY SUSPEND COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT

United Tajik Opposition (UTO) leader Said Abdullo Nuri told
journalists in Dushanbe on 14 October that the UTO may
suspend its participation in the work of the National
Reconciliation Commission to protest the authorities'
restrictions on opposition activities, ITAR-TASS and Asia
Plus-Blitz reported. Nuri said that at a meeting the previous
day, he had handed to President Imomali Rakhmonov
documentation proving that local administrators had violated
the election law by preventing three opposition politicians
from collecting the required number of signatures to register
their candidacy in the 6 November presidential poll (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 12 and 13 October 199). Nuri urged
Rakhmonov to ensure that the poll is democratic. Also on 14
October, a group of investigators from the Dushanbe branch of
the Tajik Interior Ministry were subjected to artillery fire
in the capital, ITAR-TASS reported. Six police officers were
wounded in the ensuing shootout. LF

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ALLIANCE PICKS TWO
CANDIDATES

The presidential election alliance of Yevhen
Marchuk, Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Oliynyk, and Oleksandr
Tkachenko agreed on 13 October that Oliynyk and Tkachenko
will support Moroz in the 31 October ballot and that Marchuk
will run independently, Interfax reported on 14 October.
However, it is unclear from that agreement whether the four
will eventually pick a single candidate. According to
Tkachenko, the alliance wants to ensure greater security for
its members and will make a "final decision" on a single
candidate closer to the election day. Tkachenko expressed the
view that three candidates will "doubtless" withdraw from the
race. And according to Marchuk's aide Anatoliy Murakhovskyy,
"there is hope" that the four will field a single challenger
against incumbent President Leonid Kuchma. JM

OCTOBER POLLS SHOW KUCHMA, VITRENKO IN THE LEAD

In a poll
conducted by Socis Gallup from 30 September to 12 October
among 1,200 Ukrainians, 43 percent of respondents said they
will vote for Leonid Kuchma. Natalya Vitrenko received 20.9
percent support, Petro Symonenko 14.8 percent, Oleksandr
Moroz 8.1 percent, and Yevhen Marchuk 5.2 percent. In a poll
carried out from 1-8 October by the Ukrainian Institute of
Social Studies and the Social Monitoring Center among 3,076
Ukrainians, Kuchma received 33.6 percent support, Vitrenko
15.8 percent, Symonenko 13.6 percent, Moroz 8.2 percent,
Marchuk 5.2 percent, and Tkachenko 4.9 percent. JM

UKRAINE CRITICIZES PACE REPORT ON ELECTION CAMPAIGN

The
Foreign Ministry on 14 October criticized a report by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the
presidential campaign in Ukraine (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7
October 1999), Interfax reported. "Perhaps the conclusions of
the PACE rapporteurs would have been more consistent and
objective if [the rapporteurs] had stayed in Ukraine for a
longer period and not turned down proposed meetings with the
Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry, and the State Tax
Administration," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. JM

UKRAINE REPORTS SLOWER RATE OF ECONOMIC DECLINE

The State
Statistics Committee on 14 October reported that Ukraine's
GDP shrank 1.7 percent in January-September 1999, compared
with the same period last year. The country's GDP fell 2.9
percent in the first eight months of 1999, but in September
it was up 4.6 percent, compared with September 1998. JM

OSCE CHAIRMAN URGES DIALOGUE IN BELARUS

OSCE rotating
Chairman Knut Vollebaek has called on the Belarusian
authorities to take the necessary steps to resume talks
between the government and the opposition, Belapan reported
on 14 October. According to Vollebaek, the authorities should
meet the following conditions for continuing a dialogue with
the opposition: clarify the disappearance of opposition
activist Viktar Hanchar, release former Premier Mikhail
Chyhir, and stop oppressing the independent press. Meanwhile,
the opposition is preparing a "freedom march" in Minsk on 17
October as a show of popular support for political dialogue
in Belarus. The authorities have refused to allow the
opposition to hold the march in downtown Minsk. Instead, the
march will take place at a location far removed from the city
center. JM

TURNOUT HIGH IN EARLY VOTING FOR ESTONIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS

Officials have announced that from 11-13 October, the period
of early voting for the local elections, 9.3 percent of
voters cast their votes. Over those three days, 85,829
citizens (representing 10 percent of eligible voters who are
citizens) and 11,370 non-citizens (representing 5.8 percent
of eligible voters who are not citizens) cast their votes.
Non-citizen permanent residents are allowed to vote in the
local elections. The main voting day is 17 October.
Meanwhile, a Tallinn court is planning to fine 13 parties for
failing to provide required documentation on contributions
they received Those parties could be fined up to 100,000
kroons ($6,943) each, "Eesti Paevaleht" reported. MH

LITHUANIAN BUDGET CUTS APPROVED

The Lithuanian parliament on
14 October voted by 72 to 18 to cut this year's budget by 450
million litas ($112.5 million) to a total of 6.76 billion
litas. Opposition Social Democratic parliamentary deputy
Aloyzas Sakalas said that "the budget reduction cannot wipe
out the principal problems that led the state to [its]
current plight," ELTA reported. Other opposition deputies
argued the cuts are not enough, suggesting the deficit is
already close to 1 billion litas, BNS added. MH

POLAND 'SATISFIED' WITH EU ANNUAL REPORT

Deputy Economics
Minister Andrzej Ananicz and Poland's chief EU membership
negotiator Jan Kulakowski said on 14 October that they are
satisfied with the European Commission's assessment of Poland
in its annual report on candidate countries' preparations for
membership, PAP reported. "The report suggests that target
dates set by the government to end accession talks and join
the EU [in 2003] are realistic," Reuters quoted Kulakowski as
saying. While praising Poland's economy, the report
criticized the slow pace of bringing Polish legislation into
line with EU standards and unsatisfactory progress in
combating corruption, implementing privatization, and
restructuring the country's agricultural, coal mining, and
metallurgical sectors. JM

HAVEL SAYS CZECH REPUBLIC NEEDS MAJORITY GOVERNMENT

Czech
President Vaclav Havel told journalists after meeting
European Commission Ambassador Ramiro Cibrian in Prague on 14
October that the Czech Republic needs a majority government
and that both politicians and the public must show greater
interest in the process of EU integration, CTK reported.
Cibrian informed Havel of the EU's assessment of the Czech
Republic's progress toward integration (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 14 October 1999). Havel said the assessment
reveals the need to have a "confident and energetic
government," which is possible only if the cabinet can "rely
on a parliamentary majority." The Social Democrat (CSSD)
minority government, he said, "lacks these qualities." Havel
also said he doubts whether most Czech politicians and the
public understand the "seriousness of the situation" revealed
by the EU report. He said the politicians' commitment to EU
integration will determine whether the Czech Republic is a
"full participant in European integration or whether it
remains closed in its sleepy provincialism." MS

CZECH PREMIER RESPONDS TO EU REPORT

Following the release of
the EU annual report on candidate countries' progress toward
membership, Prime Minister Milos Zeman told journalists on 14
October that "we have no reason for...optimism. A lot of work
needs to be done, not only in the field of foreign policy but
also in internal matters," CTK reported. The same day, dpa
quoted EU commissioner in charge of enlargement Guenter
Verheugen as saying that it is "particularly disturbing" that
the construction of the wall in Usti nad Labem separating
Romany and other citizens "was completed on the 10th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall." "We do not want
to see any more walls in Europe," Verheugen told Czech
Ambassador to the EU Josef Kreuter. He said he considers the
wall to be "a violation of human rights that you are expected
to observe." MS

FRENCH FAR-RIGHT LEADER VISITS PRAGUE

Jean Marie Le Pen,
leader of the French National Front, told journalists in
Prague that "globalization liquidates nations" and
particularly those with deep European roots. "That is why it
is necessary for nationalists of all countries to unite," he
said, adding that he wants a Nationalist International to be
set up under the name of "Euronat." Le Pen criticized
Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider and Italian post-
fascist leader Gianfranco Fini for being ready to betray the
nationalist interest by entering coalition governments. He
said he considers the Republican Party (SPR-RSP), which
invited him to Prague, to be "an equal partner." SPR-RSP
leader Miroslav Sladek said he wants to be "Le Pen's good
apprentice," CTK reported. MS

SLOVAK CABINET TO BE TRIMMED?

Christian Democratic Movement
(KDH) leader and Justice Minister Jan Carnogursky told
journalists on 14 October that he is "pleased" to see that
the Party of the Democratic Left is now also supporting the
KDH proposal to reduce the number of ministers in the
cabinet. He said that the KDH made the proposal as early as
27 May so that the cabinet would set an example at a time
when budgetary cuts are leading to the reduction of the labor
force in many areas. Asked whether he would lose his seat in
the cabinet as a result of a reorganization, Carnogursky said
he does not believe this will happen, since only he
represents the KDH in the cabinet. Although Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda has returned to the KDH, he is "above all
the representative of the Slovak Democratic Coalition," SITA
quoted him as saying. MS

KOSOVARS TRY TO STORM BRIDGE IN MITROVICA

Some 3,000 ethnic
Albanians on 15 October tried to force their way across the
Ibar River bridge that links the Albanian and Serbian parts
of Mitrovica, Reuters reported. French KFOR troops and
Italian riot police fired stun grenades and tear gas to force
the Kosovars back, according to AP. Other KFOR soldiers fired
into the air to warn Albanians and Serbs alike to stay back
from the bridge. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Ethnic Albanians demand an end to what has become in effect a
partition of Mitrovica into a northern Serbian sector and a
southern Albanian one. PM

ANNAN CALLS FOR MULTI-ETHNIC KOSOVA

UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said in Prishtina on 14 October that his goal is
to promote a multi-ethnic Kosova. He added that the UN is
"not here to prepare the people for independence." Local
media have recently suggested that the UN will soon share
administrative authority with Hashim Thaci of the former
Kosova Liberation Army, which seeks independence. Annan is on
a Balkan visit that has already taken him to Bosnia. PM

ALBANIA'S MILO WARNS AGAINST NEGLECTING KOSOVA

Foreign
Minister Pascal Milo said in Tirana on 14 October that the
international community should devote as much energy and
attention to the post-war reconstruction and development of
Kosova as NATO did to its military action against Serbia in
the spring. He also appealed to Kosovars not to engage in
violence lest they jeopardize their chances of eventually
achieving a political settlement in the province, dpa
reported. PM

TURKISH PRESIDENT VISITS KOSOVA

Suleyman Demirel told
representatives of Kosova's 60,000 ethnic Turks in Mamusa on
15 October that they should live in harmony with their
Serbian and Albanian neighbors. He also visited Turkish
troops stationed nearby. Kosova was part of the Ottoman
Empire for nearly 500 years. Many of the province's ethnic
Turks have long resented what they regard as attempts by
ethnic Albanians to assimilate them. PM

NEW LICENSE PLATES FOR KOSOVA

UN police began issuing new
license plates in Kosova on 15 October. The aim is to control
a growing market in stolen cars, AP reported. Most cars have
no license plates. Owners often claim that Serbian forces
confiscated their license plates and registration papers, but
UN officials believe that many cars were stolen in Western
Europe or from local Serbs. PM

SERBS MOVE PRISHTINA UNIVERSITY FACULTIES

The Serbian
government decided on 14 October to "temporarily" move the
Serbian faculties of Prishtina University to northern
Mitrovica and Krusevac, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service
reported. PM

SERBIAN OPPOSITION AGREES ON ELECTION TERMS

Representatives
of most Serbian opposition parties signed an agreement in
Belgrade on 14 October in which they set down their demands
to the government for holding early elections (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 14 October 1999). The opposition wants a round-
table with the authorities to discuss an early ballot but did
not set a deadline for the government to respond. This is the
first time in 10 years that the opposition has agreed on a
common electoral platform, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service
reported. Elsewhere, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav
Seselj said that his Radical Party is willing to discuss key
issues with other parties. He did not elaborate. PM

SERBIAN PRESIDENT STONED IN NIS

Some 6,000 angry protesters
hurled stones at Serbian President Milan Milutinovic in Nis
on 14 October. He reopened a bridge damaged by NATO air
strikes in the spring of 1999. Milutinovic, who is an
indicted war criminal, said "the reconstruction of Serbia
does not mean only rebuilding but also making changes. [We
need to introduce] a modern market economy and inter-ethnic
equality, and to strengthen and develop democratic
institutions," Reuters reported. Protesters booed him in June
in Nis, which is Serbia's third largest city and an
opposition stronghold. PM

UN SAYS NATO CAUSED NO ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE IN SERBIA

Pekka Haavisto, who heads UN environmental investigators in
the Balkans, said in Stockholm on 14 October that NATO's
spring air campaign did not produce an ecological
catastrophe, as the Milosevic regime has claimed. Haavisto
noted that Serbia was already a heavily polluted country
before the war. He added that previous pollution and the
effects of bombing have produced dangerous situations in
Pancevo, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, and Bor. PM

SFOR PEACEKEEPERS STONED IN MOSTAR

Angry ethnic Croatian
civilians pelted an unspecified number of SFOR troops with
stones in Mostar on 14 October, injuring four of the
soldiers. At least one civilian was hurt, but the
circumstances are unclear, Reuters reported. The peacekeepers
were searching a weather station, police building, television
station offices, and other unspecified sites for illegal
weapons. A NATO spokesman said in Sarajevo that "local
authorities have consistently failed to tackle illegal
activities, making it necessary for SFOR to act in the Mostar
area...to ensure the peaceful establishment of a multiethnic
and law-abiding community in the Mostar area," AP reported.
The spokesman provided no details of the mission. Western
Herzegovina, of which Mostar is the main city, has
traditionally been the home of the most militant Croatian
nationalists in the Balkans. Since 1995, local officials and
armed paramilitaries have doggedly resisted the international
community's attempts to enable Muslims to return to their
homes in western Herzegovina. PM

PETRITSCH CALLS ON BOSNIAN OFFICIALS TO VACATE APARTMENTS

A
spokeswoman for the international community's Wolfgang
Petritsch said in Sarajevo on 14 October that local
politicians who live in apartments belonging to other people
should vacate the premises. She noted that such a move would
demonstrate their personal commitment to respecting the
Dayton peace agreement, which guarantees the right of
refugees to go home. Petritsch's office receives "daily"
complaints from persons wanting to return to their apartments
but who are unable to do so because government officials are
living in them, she added. The process of enabling refugees
to go home would receive a great boost if officials and
government workers would set an example, "Oslobodjenje"
commented. PM

TUDJMAN SEEKING SPECIAL TREATMENT AT VATICAN?

Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman has asked that Cardinal Angelo
Sodano, who is the Vatican's "foreign minister," personally
administer Holy Communion to him and his party in the crypt
beneath St. Peter's when Tudjman visits Italy later in
October, "Jutarnji list" reported on 15 October. The Zagreb
daily cited "Church sources" as saying that it is not common
for visiting foreign dignitaries to "order" a Mass, to
specify who is to say it, or to ask for it to be held in the
crypt. The Vatican has included a Mass in St. Peter's in
Tudjman's schedule "in order not to have a diplomatic
scandal," the newspaper added. The schedule does not give any
particulars regarding the Mass. Tudjman uses Roman Catholic
events for his own political purposes but does not claim to
be a religious man. He has long sought to keep the Church
from acquiring a voice in politics. PM

CROATIAN GOVERNMENT WANTS MORE TV AIR TIME?

A majority of the
members of the government said they oppose Croatian public
television's (HRT) rule that news coverage given to
individual government officials be counted as part of the air
time allotted to their respective political parties. Foreign
Minister Mate Granic, who disagreed with his colleagues, said
that HRT's policy is fully in keeping with international
standards, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. HRT is
widely regarded as a mouthpiece of the governing Croatian
Democratic Community. PM

CROATIAN OIL COMPANY TO CALL IN DEBTS

The state-owned oil
monopoly INA is seeking to call in debts, which now exceed
$200 million, AP reported on 14 October. The biggest debtors
are the state-owned electric company, which owes $28.6
million, and the Petrokemija plant, whose debts amount to
$21.4 million. It is unclear what INA will do if customers
fail to pay. The oil company itself has made losses of more
than $58 million in the past eight months and has debts
amounting to $114 million. PM

ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN CHINA

Andrei Plesu met with
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Foreign Minister Tang Jianxuan
in Beijing on 14 October, the BBC reported, citing Xinhua.
According to the Chinese news agency, Plesu said Romania
"firmly supports" China's position on both Taiwan and Tibet
(Plesu had visited the latter before arriving in China).
Mediafax, however, quoted him as saying that relations
between Romania and China remain good "despite differences."
Plesu noted that economic relations are "lagging behind" the
two countries' political relations. Plesu and Tang signed an
agreement for a "$600,000 non-refundable credit" to Romania,
according to Mediafax. MS

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT DECIDES TO COMPENSATE ANTI-COMMUNIST
GUERRILLAS

The Chamber of Deputies on 14 October approved a
law on the rehabilitation of and compensation to those who
used military means to resist the Communist regime. Under the
law, that compensation will be equal to that received by
those who were political prisoners under communism. The law
was drafted by 17 deputies representing the National Peasant
Party Christian Democratic and has still to be approved by
the Senate. Observers note that the law is controversial
because many anti-Communist guerrillas of the late 1940s and
the 1950s were Iron Guard members or sympathizers. Persons
(or their descendants) eligible for compensation must first
apply for rehabilitation. If they are rehabilitated, all
confiscated property must be returned to them (or their
descendants). Those executed or killed in prison after being
captured are to be granted the title of "Martyr-Hero." MS

MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OKAYS INITIATIVE TO AMEND
CONSTITUTION

The Constitutional Court on 14 October ruled
that the initiative of 39 parliamentary deputies to amend the
basic law is in accordance with constitutional provisions,
Infotag reported. Under existing legislation, the initiative
can be moved in the legislature six months after the court's
ruling. The aim of the initiative is to stop President Petru
Lucinschi's drive to switch to a presidential system by
strengthening the powers of the government. The proposed
amendments stipulate that the government will have the right
to ask the parliament to pass legislation under emergency
procedure. In addition, the parliament will be able to grant
the government temporary legislative powers. MS

BULGARIAN PREMIER SAYS COUNTRY MAY HAVE TO AMEND
CONSTITUTION

Addressing the parliament on 14 October, Ivan
Kostov said Bulgaria may have to amend its constitution
"because some of its provisions do not allow access to the
EU," AP and BTA reported. Kostov did not specify which
articles of the basic document must be amended, but earlier
he had suggested that it may be necessary to strike the
provision forbidding the sale of land to foreigners. Kostov
added that the problem of the Kozloduy nuclear plant will
have "to be sorted out" with the EU, saying "we have no
option..., we must not miss this chance." MS

The electoral success of Joerg Haider's far-right,
populist, and xenophobic Freedom Party in Austria's 3 October
parliamentary elections triggered different reactions from
that country's former communist neighbors.

Only Istvan Csurka, leader of Hungary's Justice and Life
Party, dared go as far as to openly voice satisfaction,
saying he was "delighted" with the results because "all
nations have a right to defend their own living space and
their particular way of life against foreigners." In this
context, Csurka used the Hungarian equivalent of the Nazi
term "Lebensraum," for which he had been harshly criticized
in the past. And he suggested that the Austrian elections
might foreshadow Hungary's future political scene, in which
"the liberals could be swept out from the parliament."

The event was ignored by like-minded parties elsewhere
in the region. In Slovakia, the National Party (SNS) was
preoccupied with an internal power struggle that saw its
former leader, Jan Slota, replaced by Anna Malinkova, a
woman--the ultimate insult to the macho Slota. But as the
daily "Pravda" remarked on 6 October, Malinkova is much
closer to Haider than the coarse Slota ever was. And like
Haider, she will probably embark on a process of making the
party's image more sophisticated, while conserving its ultra-
nationalist, anti-minority, and anti- European integration
postures.

In the Czech Republic, the anti-German postures of
Miroslav Sladek's Republican Party (SPR-RSC) would not allow
that group to display pro-Haider sympathies. After all, the
SPR-RSC was dealt a serious blow when it was revealed that,
its rhetoric notwithstanding, the party had been financed
from the purse of the German ultra-right Republicans. At the
time of the Austrian elections, the SPR-RSC was preparing for
a visit by the leader of France's National Front chairman,
Jean Marie Le Pen, which began on 14 October.

Haider's rhetoric against European integration (or, as
Csurka calls it, his "anti-globalism"), his insistence on
property restitution to German-speakers forced to leave
Austria's neighboring countries, and his demands that the
status of the largely insignificant German minorities there
be improved are reason enough to make those countries'
governments apprehensive. Even without Haider, those
countries' relations with Vienna are strained: Austria
threatens to veto EU accession unless the controversial
nuclear plants at Krsko (Slovenia), Temelin (Czech Republic),
and Mochovce and Jaslovske Bohunice (Slovakia) are
immediately shut down. And there is also the problematic
issue of the 1945 Benes decrees, which an Austrian government
that includes the Freedom Party would pursue far more
rigorously than has been the case to date. Indeed, on 13
October, in London, Haider said the Czechs' admission to the
EU could not proceed before they abrogated those decrees.

Just as applause for Haider came only from Budapest, so
did the strongest criticism. Prime Minister Viktor Orban on 6
October said that Haider's position against EU enlargement
"is in conflict with Hungary's own interests." "To put it
bluntly," he continued, "we are interested in an Austrian
government coalition made up of parties...supporting
Hungary's EU membership."

Reactions from Slovenia were initially more restrained.
Foreign Minister Boris Frlec on 4 October said he feared the
elections "could have awe-inspiring consequences,
particularly for the Slovenian ethnic minority" in Austria.
But two days later, Premier Janez Drnovsek expressed the hope
that Haider may "turn out to be more pragmatic and reasonable
than the initial impression suggests." By 12 October,
however, Deputy Foreign Minister Franko Juri was calling
Haider's post-electoral statements on Austrian-Slovenian
relations "blackmail."

Intimidated by the prospect of an Austrian veto against
its EU membership, Slovak Foreign Ministry State Secretary
Jan Figel on 5 October said he does not expect Haider to
enter the government but Bratislava "will discuss
[contentious issues] with any democratically elected
government." Jaroslav Volf, leader of the Social Democratic
Party had said the previous day that Haider's electoral
success "could not please him" but it at least demonstrated
that "political extremism does not apply to Slovakia alone."

The bluntest comment came from Estonia. Alluding to
criticism of his country's treatment of the Russian minority,
Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves commented on 11 October
that "if a political force similar to the Freedom Party had
come second in elections in Estonia, one can well imagine
what a row the OSCE would have made."

In the Czech Republic, there was unexpected "fallout"
from the Austrian elections. On 4 October, Premier Milos
Zeman remarked that the vote demonstrated that a party
advocating "xenophobe and racialist moods" can garner serious
support even in an economically prosperous country and that
this was "food for thought." Freedom Union Deputy Chairman
Petr Mares volunteered the comment that a de-facto two-party
coalition has also emerged in the Czech Republic and that, as
in Austria, this may push the electorate to support a radical
alternative. Only in the Czech case, Communist leader
Miroslav Grebenicek would play the role of Haider.

Mares's ideas were unexpectedly embraced by Civic
Democratic Party (ODS) leader Vaclav Klaus. He said that the
elections' outcome demonstrated that Austria's 13-year-old
"grand coalition" of the Social Democratic Party and People's
Party has "lasted too long." While refraining from
criticizing the results, Klaus was ready to use them to
embark on ending a partnership that was only 16 months old
but, doubtless according to his viewpoint, has also "lasted
too long."

The minority government of the Social Democrats has been
ruling by the grace of the ODS. That grace's time is now up.
Vienna politics have thrown Prague politics into turmoil, but
not for the first time in history. And that, to quote Zeman,
is indeed "food for thought."